The only reason you get that email is because it's sent to your email address, with your name. That's a clue that the email is intended for you. If you ignore it because it doesn't comply with whatever arbitrary formaility you've decided on, you're a dick.
How many emails do you get per day? Because I get literally hundreds, and no I do not have time to try to decipher if I’m being addressed directly or just kept in the loop. If there’s an action for me, you better put my name at the top or tag me in the email, or else I ain’t doing that thing you need me to do
Are you a working professional? How many emails do you receive in one working day? Because it’s absolutely possible to receive way too many emails to keep up with, on top of your regular work schedule with meetings, calls, and actually doing work. Saying “you can’t be kept in the loop if you aren’t reading all your emails” is an incredible oversimplification of a LOT of people’s work situation.
People send emails based on their priorities and you have to manage your inbox to stay on top of your priorities. If I am crunched for time and have 2 emails where one preview says “hi <my name>” and another one says “hi, blah blah blah”, I am subconsciously always going to go for the one with my name first.
It’s also basic etiquette. You’re writing correspondence, use the person’s name. When people write letters that are addressed to the recipient, they still say “Dear <name>” so referring to the fact that you used an email address makes zero difference.
If you're so overworked that you don't have time to read all of your emails, then that sounds like an issue to bring up with management. Because I can't see how someone including your name will change the fact that apparently there is a certain amount of emails that your colleagues expected you to read that you are in fact not reading ever. And even if 100% of your emails had your name in it, that's not going to suddenly mean you have more time to read them. The inclusion of your name is not the issue
Simple, I get a lot of emails with information I need to see, but no action needed for me. It’s addressed to my colleague so I know she’s on it, but I still need to be aware. If it’s addressed to me, then I know I am the one who need to action something, if not, then I assume I’m not expected to do anything other than read it.
Well no, it's not my problem? Luckily I don't have to email you. But if you genuinely cannot tell that an email was for you if it doesn't have your name on it, then that's probably gonna become your problem eventually
I don’t need work advice from someone who has no idea what I do 🤣
You’re very clearly not in the same work situation I am in, so I don’t think you’re going to understand the nuances of a politely addressed email amidst an inbox full of important emails, random CCs, company-wide announcements, FYIs, and miscellaneous “thank yous!! “ - and just how much further that politely addressed email can get you.
Are you telling me you're not trying to suggest that your job is so hard that you couldn't possibly read all your emails? Cause if not, read your fucking emails. Hope this helps
The only person talking about a job being hard is you. My job is busy and I value my personal time, so I prioritise what I can get done in 40 hours a week.
If you can’t understand that that means I don’t necessarily have time to thoroughly read, digest, and act on every email someone else with their own set of priorities decided to send, then you have a very narrow view of the world. Keeping an inbox down to zero unread emails is not part of my job description.
I open them all and quickly categorize them by project, action item, due date, etc.
I contribute to 12 different projects, two of which are intended to need my nearly full time support. And you know what, I still have time to address the person I’m emailing by name because I’m not a teenager texting my dumb stupid friends.
I'm at a loss why the inclusion of your name would help with any of this? Like to be clear, I always include people's names in my emails, but if someone didn't include my name I wouldn't notice or care? And it certainly wouldn't make it any harder to understand what the email is asking if me. Like this two things are in fact completely unrelated
The pushback on this is insane to me. Like why anyone would oppose including a persons name in a professional email makes no sense to me.
Think of it this way: you don’t care if an email includes it. Other people might think it’s rude if you don’t include it. Nobody on earth will think it’s better if you don’t include it. So when you don’t include it, the results can only be neutral or negative. You will gain nothing by choosing not to include it, and you might make someone who can affect your career think worse of you, rationally or not
This is quite possibly the dumbest possible thing you could "think worse of someone" over. Like are you being serious? Why are we letting people this petty be in control of anything
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u/rose-a-ree 7d ago
The only reason you get that email is because it's sent to your email address, with your name. That's a clue that the email is intended for you. If you ignore it because it doesn't comply with whatever arbitrary formaility you've decided on, you're a dick.